3D ANIMATION PROJECT

During this practical skills unit, you will develop an understanding of how to work with 3DS Max to produce a short animated scene. You will learn how to use the program through a series of in-class lessons, activities, tutorials and training exercises.

Your instructor will conduct a number of lessons and training activities in class to introduce the software.

There are tutorial activities provided to help you develop basic software skills (see below). These tutorials will be checked as part of your skills development mark.

ALL STUDENTS WILL COMPLETE AT LEAST 2-3 TUTORIALS DURING THIS UNIT AND SUBMIT AT LEAST ONE FOR MARKING (completed as a rendered scene with camera and effective lighting).

You should plan to complete at least ONE modelling tutorial and ONE animation tutorial to ensure you have a good understanding of the different steps in the 3D animation process.

Training should take approx. 4-5 classes. You are free to try out some of the tutorial activities to get yourself started OR check out the 3DS Max textbooks available in class. There are also plenty of excellent tutorials available online - feel free to search!

You are STRONGLY recommended to watch the ESSENTIAL SKILLS MOVIES (found in Help Menu) as a way to get introduced to the 3DS workspace.

You are free to choose which tutorials to complete based on your personal skill level and interest.

FINAL PROJECT SUGGESTIONS (IF YOU GET STUCK FOR IDEAS):1. ANIMATED LOGO/3D TEXT DESIGN:

Create a short animated video (min. 300 frames = 10 seconds) featuring your original personal logo design that you created near the start of the course (imported into 3DS Max as vector graphic).

You will turn your logo into a 3D object using 3DS Max tools and add textures/materials as required to enhance object's appearance. The logo MUST be animated in some way.

You will model an environment for your logo (background, objects, etc. as required). At least ONE object must not be a primitive shape (this means you have applied significant changes to the object, such as extrude, bevel, etc.).

You will add lighting and cameras as required to enhance appearance of scene.

You should have min. 3 lights in the scene.

Both lighting and cameras should be animated in some way.

You will add realistic textures, effects, etc. to produce a high-quality animated sequence that you will render as an AVI file for use in your final portfolio website (splash page?).

2. ORIGINAL ANIMATED SCENE (BEGINNER)

You are recommended to find a source image from the Internet
to use as your model “inspiration” or you can design your own using the
3-view model sheet provided.

Scene will be rendered with sophisticated lighting, effective backdrop/ground and should feature multiple cameras.

HOW YOU'LL BE MARKED

Because students coming into this unit have widely varied skills, this activity is marked differently than previous projects during the comm-tech course. Students will be evaluated based on a combination of: